diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
index a4375c8e..1943167b 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain.py
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ def run_start(args):
 
     if args.start_rethinkdb:
         try:
-            proc, port = utils.start_rethinkdb()
+            proc = utils.start_rethinkdb()
         except StartupError as e:
             sys.exit('Error starting RethinkDB, reason is: {}'.format(e))
         logger.info('RethinkDB started with PID %s' % proc.pid)
diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py b/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
index 02f2a997..ac2c4d36 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ for ``argparse.ArgumentParser``.
 import argparse
 import multiprocessing as mp
 import subprocess
-import tempfile
 
 import rethinkdb as r
 
@@ -15,18 +14,7 @@ from bigchaindb import db
 from bigchaindb.version import __version__
 
 
-def start_temp_rethinkdb(port=0, directory=None):
-    directory = directory or tempfile.mkdtemp()
-
-    extra_opts = ['--cluster-port', '0',
-                  '--driver-port', str(port),
-                  '--no-http-admin',
-                  '--directory', directory]
-
-    return start_rethinkdb(wait_for_db=False, extra_opts=extra_opts)
-
-
-def start_rethinkdb(wait_for_db=True, extra_opts=None):
+def start_rethinkdb():
     """Start RethinkDB as a child process and wait for it to be
     available.
 
@@ -40,38 +28,31 @@ def start_rethinkdb(wait_for_db=True, extra_opts=None):
         be started.
     """
 
-    if not extra_opts:
-        extra_opts = []
-
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(['rethinkdb', '--bind', 'all'] + extra_opts,
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(['rethinkdb', '--bind', 'all'],
                             stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                             stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
                             universal_newlines=True)
 
     dbname = bigchaindb.config['database']['name']
     line = ''
-    port = None
 
     for line in proc.stdout:
-        if line.startswith('Listening for client driver'):
-            port = int(line.split()[-1])
         if line.startswith('Server ready'):
+
             # FIXME: seems like tables are not ready when the server is ready,
             #        that's why we need to query RethinkDB to know the state
             #        of the database. This code assumes the tables are ready
             #        when the database is ready. This seems a valid assumption.
-
-            if wait_for_db:
-                try:
-                    conn = db.get_conn()
-                    # Before checking if the db is ready, we need to query
-                    # the server to check if it contains that db
-                    if r.db_list().contains(dbname).run(conn):
-                        r.db(dbname).wait().run(conn)
-                except (r.ReqlOpFailedError, r.ReqlDriverError) as exc:
-                    raise StartupError('Error waiting for the database `{}` '
-                                       'to be ready'.format(dbname)) from exc
-            return proc, port
+            try:
+                conn = db.get_conn()
+                # Before checking if the db is ready, we need to query
+                # the server to check if it contains that db
+                if r.db_list().contains(dbname).run(conn):
+                    r.db(dbname).wait().run(conn)
+            except (r.ReqlOpFailedError, r.ReqlDriverError) as exc:
+                raise StartupError('Error waiting for the database `{}` '
+                                   'to be ready'.format(dbname)) from exc
+            return proc
 
     # We are here when we exhaust the stdout of the process.
     # The last `line` contains info about the error.
diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index 7dd9ba1e..2248be5e 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         # First, get information on all blocks which contain this transaction
         response = self.connection.run(
                 r.table('bigchain', read_mode=self.read_mode)
-                .get_all(value, index=index)\
+                .get_all(value, index=index)
                 .pluck('votes', 'id', {'block': ['voters']}))
 
         return list(response)
diff --git a/tests/test_commands.py b/tests/test_commands.py
index d7cce77f..87b05b89 100644
--- a/tests/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/test_commands.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def test_bigchain_run_start(mock_run_configure, mock_processes_start, mock_db_in
     run_start(args)
 
 
-@patch('bigchaindb.commands.utils.start_rethinkdb', return_value=(Mock(), 2))
+@patch('bigchaindb.commands.utils.start_rethinkdb', return_value=Mock())
 def test_bigchain_run_start_with_rethinkdb(mock_start_rethinkdb,
                                            mock_run_configure,
                                            mock_processes_start,
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ def test_start_rethinkdb_returns_a_process_when_successful(mock_popen):
     mock_popen.return_value = Mock(stdout=[
         'Listening for client driver 1234',
         'Server ready'])
-    assert utils.start_rethinkdb() == (mock_popen.return_value, 1234)
+    assert utils.start_rethinkdb() is mock_popen.return_value
 
 
 @patch('subprocess.Popen')
@@ -228,15 +228,6 @@ def test_start_rethinkdb_exits_when_cannot_start(mock_popen):
         utils.start_rethinkdb()
 
 
-@patch('subprocess.Popen')
-def test_start_temp_rethinkdb_returns_a_process_when_successful(mock_popen):
-    from bigchaindb.commands import utils
-    mock_popen.return_value = Mock(stdout=[
-        'Listening for client driver 1234',
-        'Server ready'])
-    assert utils.start_temp_rethinkdb() == (mock_popen.return_value, 1234)
-
-
 @patch('rethinkdb.ast.Table.reconfigure')
 def test_set_shards(mock_reconfigure, monkeypatch, b):
     from bigchaindb.commands.bigchain import run_set_shards
diff --git a/tests/test_run_query_util.py b/tests/test_run_query_util.py
index bac63048..f81bd232 100644
--- a/tests/test_run_query_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_run_query_util.py
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
-from unittest.mock import patch
 from threading import Thread
 import pytest
 
 import rethinkdb as r
 
-from bigchaindb.commands.utils import start_temp_rethinkdb
 from bigchaindb.db.utils import Connection